The Broken Remote
by Tyr'll
Summary: A familiar villain with an unfamiliar past beginning to catch up with him. Pairings: Later, although you can guess now. Chapter 2 is going up...
1. Twas' a Dark and Stormy Night

The darkness in Jump City was unbearable. Who would have thought that nighttimes in such a protected city would be so…dark? The shadows of the night were only elongated and sharpened by the vast horizon that now poured down rain. For seconds the shadows would vanish in a flash of lightning, replacing the eerie silence with a thunderous explosion of noise. Trash bins in ally ways were beginning to fill with the ever-pouring rain, and were now avoided by normally stoic rodents that ravenged them for the usually meager food they supplied.

A flash of lightning suddenly illuminated an out-of-the-way ally, and with that ally a man huddled in the omnipresent shadows where the flashes of lightning couldn't reach. Shivering, the bulbous figure suddenly upped and began sprinting out of the back ally and into the street. As he ran, the man couldn't help but glance over his shoulder, huffing as he searched for some unseen assailant.

Finally, the man reached the street, where, surprisingly, there was an absence of vehicles occupying the road. He turned down and continued his dash into the unknown. His assailant unseen and no one to turn to, he was lost.

But to give up wasn't his style. He needed a plan, a plan involving a capable team to carryout the necessary steps in order to achieve success. His gears were set in motion as he ran, almost entirely on instinct.

His brown trench coat was getting drenched, but his valued machinery was safely tucked inside. Gloved hands clenched at his side, while the hood that effectively hid his face in shadow flapped around his ears. He needed a plan.

His feet splashed through a puddle as he neared the edge of a lake. The cold water caught and clung to his pants, drawing shivers that make his entire form shake. He reached the lake and gazed out over the water. There, on the island in the middle of that lake.

Perfect.

* * *

Beast boy laughed out loud at the scene in front of him. Having green hair and skin was nowhere near as bad as the current situation of one of his fellow team members. Silently patting himself on the back, Beast boy watched the security monitors currently surveying the mayhem he had unleashed in the Titans lounge. He laughed again.

Currently unaware of the look the other members of the tower were giving him, Robin yawned as he hobbled over to the breakfast table for his morning meal. Or if that was what you wanted to call it, considering it was four in the morning. The storm awakened most of the teammates from their slumber, resulting in a very unfocused boy wonder. The only one still asleep was Cyborg, his half robotic body's sleep mode uninterrupted by the noise of thunder.

Beast boy mentally noted to give Cyborg a view of the currently recording tapes, as the scene being displayed was one that would never be seen again, and if Robin found out he was the one responsible, it was likely that he too would never be seen again either.

* * *

Raven was awakened like everybody else, by the storms thunderous noise. She huddled in bed for a second, attempting once again to fall into peaceful oblivion, only to have it snatched away from her grasp by yet another thunderous boom from the storm.

Sighing, she arose from her bed, wrapped her dark blue cloak around her shivering form, as currently she was clad only in a black skin-tight leotard. Bracing herself, she whispered a few words and surrounded herself in a dark aura.

She quietly vanished from her room to reappear in a similar aura at the towers kitchen. Starfire, the beautiful orange alien female from Tameran, was already huddled at the table. She looked visibly shaken by the storms ferocity.

Looking over the young aliens face, Raven noted that fear and sat down near Starfire. Starfire took this action with a little; "Eep!" as she hadn't noticed Raven's arrival, then seeing Raven's current position next to her, took the subtle invitation to talk.

"In my home world," she began, "storms such as these are rare, and often are followed by misfortune and hardship. I do not know what they mean on Earth, but I do so hope that this storm does not follow the same rules."

"Actually Star, Earth's storms are much more common than on Tameran," Raven replied in a dull monotone, giving the impression she didn't really care. "I doubt that this particular storm will cause any harm."

Starfire shot Raven a thankful smile, to portray her gratefulness at Raven's apparent understanding.

It was right then that Robin entered the room from the sliding doors that led to the hallway lined by the Titans bedrooms.

Walking slowly into the lounge, he was unaware of the shocked looks that Starfire and Raven shot at him. He had just woken up and wasn't fully in tune with his legendary perceptiveness.

He wasn't, however, blind. After stumbling over to the table where the other two Titans sat, Robin noticed they were ogling at his face.

He instinctively brought his hand up to his face, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. His trademark mask was in place, as was his gelled up, spiky hair. Wondering what was wrong, he walked over to the window, gazing at his own reflection.

His eyes widened in fear, before clouding in anger.

"BEAST BOY!" he cried out against a thunder crack.

* * *

Beast boy snickered in the security room. He continued to survey the monitors, his fingers nearly flying over the keyboard as he adjusted the camera angle and focus while continuing to train the lens on Robin's new hairdo.

He was lost in thought about why Robin deserved such a fate. The constant training and his multitudes of fan girls might have been bearable for Beast boy in the past, but now things were personal. While he would never admit it, Beast boy was jealous of Robin. The boy had everything Beast boy wanted.

Recognition, respect, and above all else, Raven's attention. Heck, he had Starfire's as well, but Starfire's attraction didn't worry him. He knew that Starfire had liked Robin for a long while, and frankly didn't care. But with Raven…

Beast boy glowered in anger. Robin was the only person Raven saw as "presentable in public." He was the only one who got her attention after his little run in with the imaginary Slade and she bonded with him through her mind.

A few cold tears ran down his face before he brushed them off. This business was really killing Beast boy. He had liked Raven from the first moment he saw her, but she never let him close. The only relationship she was apparently willing to share with him was one of annoyance when he tried to talk with her, and frankly, he took what he could get.

He started civilly, attempting to get responses to general questions about the weather or her health, to which she never responded. Then, on one fateful day, he decided he would attempt to tell her a joke he had heard from Cyborg. He quickly got a response this time, even if it was only a sarcastic remark about his apparent lack of humor. So he tried again, even though the shot about his humor had hurt more than he let on.

And thus began a routine that lasted for almost the entire time the Titans were together. He would tell some corny joke, she would shoot him down, he would outwardly complain or tell her she knew he was funny while inwardly dying a little at her responses, but not caring because he had gotten her to talk with him, then leave and attempt it again later. He had finally found a way to communicate with her.

Lately, however, Raven's attention was entirely on Robin. She failed to respond to any of his advances now, and Beast boy hated Robin for that.

So absorbed in his thoughts, Beast boy failed to notice the monitors warning until it was too late to escape. He quickly logged on to the Internet and set up an email for Cyborg for when he awoke. Smiling to himself, Beast boy spun around as the doors to the security room slid open.

Robin stood framed in the doorway, looking Dare I say it? rather menacing in his new pink hairdo.

Beast boy smiled, inconspicuously reached behind himself, and hit the enter key on the keyboard. A message dinged behind him, and he knew the precious footage was now safe within Cyborg's memory banks. He visibly relaxed.

Smiling disarmingly at Robin, Beast boy asked in a rather mischievous, yet innocent tone, "Why Robin, why in the world did you dye your hair _pink_? You do know that most dyes last for up to a month, right?"

Robin advanced rather menacingly to the green prankster, cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Beast boy awoke alone in the med lab. Groaning in pain, he squinted at the overly bright room before slowly getting up and stretching his sore muscles. He groaned again. Taking his leave from the lab, Beast boy walked slowly back to his room for a more comfortable place to sleep of the fights aches and pains.

As he passed by Raven's room, the door slid open, revealing Raven standing in such a way that gave away her anger.

"Why did you do that?" she asked in her cold monotone, the monotone that was reserved for his lectures.

Beast boy shrugged. _Like you care anyway, _he thought bitterly.

"He deserved it," he replied, not one bit of the bitterness that was voiced in his thoughts was portrayed by his tone of voice.

"Really…" was all she said, her eyes searching for the real answer in his eyes.

"Yeah, really," he said before tuning and continuing along to his room.

Raven was shocked at the malice in his reply. _He really believes Robin deserves the pink hair treatment, _she thought.

Beast boy was slightly miffed as he reached his room. _She'll only talk to me if the subject has to do with Robin now? Great, that's just great…_

The last thing he wanted to talk about was Robin. He sighed as he crawled into his familiar sheets with an almost contented grin on his face. He reached out of the clock to see what time it was. It was six eighteen.

And it was still raining.

* * *

Only moments after Beast boy finally fell into a deep slumber, somebody began to pound on the front door.

The banging and shouting called Starfire to the door, and opening it while wondering who it was had come to visit them. She was genuinely shocked at who stood at the door.

There, drenched in rain, and pleading for her help stood a villain, an enemy of the Teen Titans.

There at the front door, stood a very shaken and visibly scared out of his wits, unarmed villain.

There stood Control Freak.

* * *

Personally, I think thought it would be cool to give a little made up back round info on CF because of his unfounded roles in the cartoon. Even villains deserve the spotlight every now and then, and CR is no exception. If this story goes well, I might consider doing other villains. However, it may take me a while to upload a new chapter. Look forward to it though.

_With all light there is darkness…_

_So isn't the darkness just as important as the light?_

-B


	2. Thinking it Through

Strangely, as some unknown force was at work, a flash of lightning flashed as the door opened to reveal him, Control Freak. The rain on his back only beat harder, but hardly making any difference as his trench coat was already drenched.

Starfire stood in shock for a second after opening the door. Visibly tensing, Control Freak quickly stepped into the tower, spun his arm around her, and covered Starfire's mouth. While the motion did bring him into the tower and allow him to quiet Star, as he spun, a cascade of water showered the carpet, wetting the floor in a way that resembled a cascade of tears.

Starfire's green eyes blinked as she complied and kept silent for the time being. Why should she, she though. Control Freak could not hold her; she could simply break free of his grip and call the others. But something held her back.

He was afraid.

Starfire, while still naïve in the ways of speech on planet Earth, prided herself to be an excellent judge of character. She had never really felt threatened around Control Freak, and now that he was scared she knew why. He wasn't a bad person. The way he held her, his shaking, and even how he flinched every time thunder cracked, all pointed to him being kinder at heart than imagined.

He had never hurt anyone, and the worst crime he had committed was a threat. He had threatened to blow the city up, he had threatened to poison the water supply, and he had threatened to hurt people, but he had never really done so.

Robin was always convinced that it was because of the team's dedication and hard work that he was always stopped, but Starfire knew better. She knew people, and she knows emotion. She could see, sometimes better than Raven, what people were feeling. She never saw triumph during Control Freak's moments of victory like she did other villains, nor did she see the anguish or annoyance that generally came during defeat. Instead, she always saw an odd aura of calm or pride around him, even during his random outbursts.

Starfire sense many things around him now; fear, desperation, and trust being portrayed at the greatest. She allowed herself to be dragged back to her room, only pausing momentarily to wonder how he knew where her room was.

* * *

Control Freak couldn't believe his luck. Of all the Titans that could have opened the door, it had been Starfire. He knew he could trust her.

When he grabbed her and began to make his way through the hallways to her room, he noticed she didn't struggle.

Clever girl. She knew he didn't mean any harm. In fact, the worst thing he could do now would be to attract attention. He didn't want to be noticed, to be found. Then he would have to fight, and how he hated fighting.

Half dragging, half walking with Starfire, Control Freak muttered as he made his way through the maze like hallway. Feeling he could trust her not to make a sound, Control Freak moved his hand away from her mouth to remove a device from his coat.

Starfire stared with interest. The device he removed was a simple screen, displaying five dots, and one blue dot. The dots blinked slowly, and Starfire noted that two of the dots were moving, the blue and one nearby red.

The two dots continued on, moving around the screen, avoiding confrontations with any other dots.

Finally, Control Freak and Starfire reached her room. Control Freak looked at Star, his gaze asking a question. Star answered the question with a simple answer.

"Enter"

* * *

"Arrgh…" Beast Boy wanted to hurt himself, but knew that it wasn't the way out. He had learned that the hard way.

Experience was the best teacher.

Why! This always happens to him. The last thing he wants is to go through another depression, but it loomed over him. The darkness was threatening him again. It was harder to fight.

But why should he? The darkness hid things, hid pain, better than his usual happy light. He only wanted to find some happiness in his life, but it was still denied. Nobody cared, he felt worthless. Why should he care? The others didn't. They wanted him gone.

No, they didn't. They didn't want him gone; he simply wanted to be gone. Why should he stay, his purpose was gone, his one light, his one joy. Raven was gone.

Not in a literal sense, of course, he thought to himself as he continued to pace his unnaturally clean room. She was gone to him, to be with Robin, to be Robin's light, even if Robin didn't need that light. He did. He needed that purpose. He needed to be the one to comfort her, to comfort Raven; he needed to be the one to make her smile. But, even that pleasure was denied to him. Robin somehow accomplished this without even trying.

It made him sick.

Why wouldn't she listen to him anymore? Even lying in the med lab, all he had gotten from her was a stern lecture on what not to do to her or the others. She had recited from memory what about him annoyed her. All the traits that he thought of as helpful, the traits he was proud of, were mentioned in her ramble. At least she cared enough not to say all this to his face.

She thought he was unconscious.

But no, he had been awake for every single word uttered in that cursed med lab. All he was and ever would be was annoying to her. She hated him, even if she wouldn't say that strong word. That would only bring out Anger. And Anger was bad.

Muttering to himself, he began to break up the cleanliness that reigned in his room. He smashed books of shelves, overturned his hamper, and even spread his trash all over the room. He began to feel a little better. At least his surrounding now look like he felt…

Like crap.

* * *

Raven sat in her room after her encounter with Beast Boy. She knew he was upset; it was why he was upset that confused her. Why was he mad, least of all at her? What had she or Robin done to him?

She racked her brain, but came up with nothing. She couldn't see the logic. The logic behind all of this was missing.

She needed to figure this out, but she could also decide to meditate, to refuse the responsibility trust upon her by Beast Boy's strange actions. She weighed her options, and decided to meditate. To forget.

She didn't want to put up with this, to live with this guilt. Had she done something?

No, of course not, he couldn't have anything against her, especially considering how cold she was too him. And over the past few weeks, she had even ignored him, denied him existence.

No, forget, release. Calm, stop this feeling. Meditate…meditate.

Slowly, Raven drifted upwards, folding her legs up as she floated in her room, the darkness that occupied the room with her enfolding her in its cold embrace.

She drifted alone in her mind, forgetting, repeating her phrase over and over to remain in her state, to search out her emotions and shut them up. She needed them to leave her alone.

Time passed by her as she searched her mind for any sign of the culprits, the ones who brought her such confusing feelings.

She thought she was getting close, but they slipped through her fingers. They wanted to stay hidden. They wanted to confuse her, to make her think this through on her own, but she can't have that. She needs answers; she needed the logic to find a solution.

But the logic was unreachable, and the emotions uncatchable. She was lost drifting in her mind without a purpose anymore, other than to retreat from the pain her emotions brought.

She finally risked it, risked coming out of her shell for just a little bit, to find her mirror. That would end this. Her emotions may be tricky when reached for from outside her mind, but they were only human on the inside.

She could catch them, but as always there was risk involved.

The mirror would leave her tangible in a dangerous place. She would be vulnerable. She could be hurt, she could be killed.

The mirror was only to be used in an emergency, and this was just the emergency she needed.

She was weak with her emotions running free like they were. She needed them to calm down. She needed to find out what had set them off.

She reached for the mirror, before the mirror reached for her. A dark hand emerged and wrapped its fingers around her torso. She braced herself for the imminent ride.

The mirror always brought her trouble. Tonight was no exception. The journey was uncomfortable to say the least.

Finally she touched ground, metaphorically. She was inside her own mind, there was no real ground, only what she saw and thought of as "ground".

She dusted herself off, and went off in search of her emotions, and the logic behind them.

Back at the tower, the rain fell harder.

* * *

Robin leaned carefully over a sink as he attempted to wash the dye out of his hair.

"A month, a whole freakin' month…" he muttered to himself as he scrubbed harder, hoping for the dye to at least fade. But no, he was denied that pleasure.

The dye simply sharpened its color.

Robin contemplated why Beast Boy did this, along with contemplating on how to make him suffer.

At least he had destroyed that film before Beast Boy had a chance to remove it.

Beast Boy, why did he do it again? Because he DESERVED it? No, what had he done? When had he offended Beast Boy in any way?

It just didn't make sense. He decided he would ask Beast Boy himself, tomorrow. When the storm was over.

Besides, Beast Boy's probably still unconscious in the med lab.

With that decided, Robin turned in for the morning, as it wasn't really night anymore, but he need his rest, especially if he was going to face Cyborg in the morning.

And the rain beat down unmercifully on the roof of the tower.

* * *

Kind of a strange Chapter, isn't it? Well, I wrote it and I liked it so I hope you do too. I gave my own description of the characters minds. Beast Boy is a little weird, but still…

I hope you liked that Chapter, please give me feedback on how you feel I should end it. Again, it may be awhile before I update. I really am only working on this fic partime.

Gimmie a break. Please Review, I beg of you! If you want this story finished, you'll do it. I tend to update faster on the stories that people want to read. I can only tell what you want to read by what you say in the reviews.

Btw, im sorry if this chapter veared too far away from what you were expecting. I just wrote what I felt like.

-B


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